NEWS RELEASES
Documentary Celebrates 40th Anniversary Of Florida’s Rookery Bay Research Reserve
Editor's Note: This news item was retrieved and first published through The Florida Department of Environmental Protection's website.
NAPLES, Fla. – The Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, 110,000 acres of coastal lands and waters at the northern end of the Ten Thousand Islands on Florida's Gulf Coast managed by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2019 with the release of a feature length documentary film, “Southwest Florida’s Mangrove Coast.” Produced by award-winning director Elam Stoltzfus of the Live Oak Production Group, the film highlights Rookery Bay’s past and present programs, and includes appearances by people who were instrumental in creating the reserve, as well as partners and staff who work to protect the estuaries in Southwest Florida through research and education. The documentary is slated to air on many of Florida's PBS stations during the month of April.
A grassroots effort that began in the 1960s, spearheaded by the National Audubon Society and the Nature Conservancy, was triggered by a plan to build a causeway that would connect Naples with the islands in the bay. Rookery Bay was designated as a National Estuarine Sanctuary by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Florida Gov. Bob Graham in 1978, and has since grown to 110,000 protected acres of coastal lands and waters.
For more information, visit the Rookery Bay website.
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